2 things EVERYONE should know how to do

I dont watch a lot of TV that everyone else watches.  I dont watch most reality TV, I dont watch sitcoms, I dont watch most episodic TV, competition elimination shows dont do it for me.  What kind of shows do I watch?  Shows where people build things, make things, do things with their hands.  If we can go back a few years, we could use Junkyard wars, Monster Garage, Biker Build off, etc.  Show me a factory and how people make things, show me someone taking the time to learn and build a skill and try something.  Show me a special on how things use to be built or how they are built now and I will stop and watch it.  I eat that stuff up.  One thing I also tend to lean toward is all the cheesy DIY shows on.  In fact I would say one of my favorite shows is Renovation Realities where they show people trying to figure out a renovation themselves.  It amazes me how many people on this and other shows cannot master what I consider to be basic skills.

two skills that I think are very basic in the grand scheme of things...

1) Swing a hammer.  It amazes me to see all these homeowners on TV holding the handle up by the head and taking small swings and working on a nail for 10 minutes to hammer it in.  I think you can hand someone a hammer and ask them to put a 16 penny nail into a 2X4.  How they start the nail, hold the hammer, etc I think will tell you a lot about that person.  (of course I also believe that simply shaking someone's hand tells you a lot about a person)

2) Drive a screw with a drill / electric screwdriver.  This to me seems simple these days, but yet I continue to see people squeeze the drill all the way to full speed and not put any pressure on the screw.  They make sure they tear the screw and driver bit up at the same time.  Why is it so hard to understand that a drill is variable speed for a reason, just like you car.  You dont just stand on the gas or the brake do you  (actually I think a lot of people do, but thats another post)  The bigger thing than that though, is that without putting pressure on the drill, the drill cannot keep good contact with the screw as the screw is driven into the wood.  Which makes the bit spin and tear it and the screw up.  The sound of stripped screw heads is the worse sound I can hear.  Its like nails on a chalkboard.

There are more things that just drive me nuts, like people not understanding letting a saw do the work or that flat blade screwdrivers are not to be used as chisels or pry bars, but I am not asking for the world here.  If I was running for office, my slogan would be that I will make sure that every man woman and child will know how to do these two things.  And maybe, just maybe, the world might be a better place because of it

DD